Muslim Brotherhood

July 7, 2013 | By Edmund Sanders, This post has been updated, as indicated below.

CAIRO - A night of largely peaceful protests in Cairo ended early Monday in a bloody clash between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and Egyptian soldiers, according to Muslim Brotherhood officials and Egyptian media. Muslim Brotherhood officials, who are supporting ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, said security forces raided their encampment outside the Republican Guard compound with tear gas and gunfire about 4 a.m. Supporters of Morsi have been camped there for days demanding the release of the ousted leader, who has been under arrest since a military coup last week.

CAIRO -- The only candidate running for president against Egypt's former military chief, Abdel Fattah Sisi, has reportedly said that if elected he would put Sisi on trial in connection with the deaths of hundreds of protesters. "I don't treat Sisi as a criminal, but I plan to bring him to court …. When I do this, I aim to heal wounds without opening up new confrontations," candidate Hamdeen Sabahi was quoted as saying by the Egyptian news outlet Youm7 on Friday. Sabahi's campaign denied the comments were his. But Youm7 posted an audio recording of a voice that sounded much like the candidate.

CAIRO -- Egyptian authorities early Tuesday arrested the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, another demoralizing blow to the Islamist organization amid a crackdown by the military to silence dissent and build support for its control of the nation. Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie was arrested in a Cairo apartment. Dressed in a gray tunic, the 70-year-old spiritual leader looked shaken, sitting next to a bottle of water in police custody. The image distilled the desperation the world's most influential Islamist organization faces against an army that appears determined to crush it. Most of the Brotherhood's top leaders, including Khairat Shater, its chief strategist and financier, and former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was overthrown in a coup last month, are in detention or have gone underground.

April 23, 2014 | By Laura King, This post has been updated. See the note below for details.

CAIRO -- In the latest strike by suspected militants against a senior Egyptian security official, a police brigadier general was killed Wednesday by a bomb planted under his car, state media reported. The attack in a western suburb of Cairo again demonstrated extremists' ability to target high-ranking officials, often by pinpointing the location of their homes or learning details of their daily routines so as to stage ambushes. Wednesday's bomb went off as the general was setting out for work.

CAIRO -- In a sharp escalation of the confrontation between Egypt's military-backed administration and the Muslim Brotherhood, the interim government on Wednesday declared the Islamist movement a terrorist organization. The step gives Egyptian authorities even broader authority to move against the Brotherhood, which already has been the target of a harsh and sustained campaign by security forces and the judicial system. It has been nearly six months since Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was booted out of office by the Egyptian army, following massive nationwide demonstrations demanding his removal.

CAIRO -- The political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood called for a national uprising in retaliation for an attack by Egyptian security forces Monday that killed at least 42 anti-military protesters during morning prayers. The Freedom and Justice Party “calls on the great Egyptian people to rise up against those who want to steal their revolution with tanks and armored vehicles, even over the dead bodies of the people," it said in a statement. The announcement was a chilling indication of how polarized and dangerous the nation has become in a power struggle between the armed forces and the supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood member who last week was deposed in a military coup.

CAIRO -- Egyptian prosecutors Wednesday ordered the arrest of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie in an escalating crackdown on the Islamist organization as the new military-installed government prepares the troubled nation for elections in six months. The move against Badie, who is wanted for inciting violence, will further provoke thousands of Brotherhood supporters camped in front of one of Cairo's main mosques. Badie was reportedly arrested last week but appeared at a rally Friday, urging followers to protest until deposed President Mohamed Morsi is reinstated.

CAIRO -- An Egyptian court on Monday banned the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that was the chief supporter of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, and ordered all of the organization's assets confiscated. The interim government has been steadily escalating a crackdown on the group since the July 3 coup that toppled Morsi, but this represents by far the most drastic step against it to date. Most of the Brotherhood's leadership is imprisoned, including Morsi, and those who are not in jail have gone into hiding.

The highest court in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday convicted 30 Islamists of establishing an "international branch" of the banned Muslim Brotherhood in the wealthy Persian Gulf federation, a case slammed by rights advocates as politically motivated and marred by a catalog of legal abuses. Ten Emiratis and 20 Egyptians were given sentences ranging from three months to five years. There is no right to appeal. Charges included allegations that the men stole classified documents, operated a secret organization and collected aid and donations without government permission, according to the charge list and sentencing details published by Gulf News.

CAIRO -- As the sudden fall of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood reverberates through the Middle East, perhaps nowhere are events being watched more anxiously than in Gaza Strip, the seaside enclave controlled by the Islamist group's Palestinian spinoff, Hamas. Seeing its Egyptian mentor swept from power after only one year has unnerved many Hamas leaders, despite the group's tight political and security control over Gaza. Hamas leaders so far have said little publicly. "The movement does not interfere in Egyptian affairs," Hamas lawmaker Yahia Moussa said Thursday.

CAIRO - An Egyptian lawyer and TV personality who declared days ago that he was running for president pulled out of the race Saturday, and state media quoted him as saying he had received a sign from God that victory belonged to former army chief Abdel Fattah Sisi. Mortada Mansour, known for his outspoken style and sometimes eccentric views, also took a parting swipe at the only Sisi opponent left in the race, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, the Ahram website reported. Mansour, who had announced his candidacy last weekend, has called for the abrogation of the Camp David accords that led to peace between Egypt and Israel, has threatened to go to war with Ethiopia over water rights, and has urged a ban on Facebook and Twitter.

CAIRO -- Leftist presidential hopeful Hamdeen Sabahi on Sunday bemoaned what he called Egyptian media's "blatant" backing for his prime opponent, former army chief Abdel Fattah Sisi. Sabahi is facing an uphill challenge against Sisi, who gained massive popularity when he orchestrated the ousting of Mohamed Morsi following nationwide protests against the president and his Muslim Brotherhood last summer. "The media are promoting an image that all Egyptians will undoubtedly vote for Sisi, and this is against the reality of Egyptians who have deposed two [ruling]

CAIRO - Egypt on Saturday sharply rejected a prominent human rights group's criticism of two tough new draft anti-terror laws. The measures, which have yet to be signed into law by interim President Adly Mansour, so sweepingly define terrorism that almost any sort of political activism, however peaceful, could result in prosecution, Amnesty International said in a statement issued Friday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty dismissed the London-based group's criticism, characterizing it as meddling in Egypt's affairs.

CAIRO - Video evidence submitted Thursday by Egyptian prosecutors at the trial for Al Jazeera journalists on terrorism-related charges left the defendants and their lawyers baffled and was rejected by the judge. Australian correspondent Peter Greste, Egyptian Canadian bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed are accused of “fabricating news” regarding the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt has branded a terrorist organization. The videos proffered as evidence against them included a documentary about Somalia made by Greste for the BBC, a recording of a news conference by a Kenyan official and a report produced by Mohamed's brother for another network about the effects of Egypt's political crisis on the tourism trade.

CAIRO -- An appeals court on Monday dealt another blow to the Egypt's beleaguered liberal activists, upholding three-year prison terms handed down to a trio of figures known for their role in the country's 2011 revolution. The three -- Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel -- had been convicted in December of violating a tough anti-protest law that took effect the previous month. The appeals court also upheld heavy fines levied against the trio -- 50,000 Egyptian pounds each, which is more than $7,000.

Nine months after Egypt's armed forces overthrew the country's democratically elected president, the leader of that coup has announced that he will seek the presidency in elections next month. But even if army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Sisi receives an overwhelming mandate from voters, he won't be able to restore prosperity and stability to the country if the government continues to repress and imprison political opponents. The United States should use its limited but real influence with Egypt to press Sisi to abandon his siege mentality and open a dialogue with opposition groups.

CAIRO - Egypt's election commission said Sunday that the first round of voting for a new president would be held May 26 and 27 and that any runoff would conclude within a month of that. Originally, the polling was to have taken place by mid-April. But the odds-on favorite, Abdel Fattah Sisi, took his time declaring his candidacy. He finally did so last week. Sisi, who stepped down as defense minister in order to run, led a coup against elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July.

CAIRO -- Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Sisi stepped down Wednesday as Egypt's defense minister and declared his candidacy for president. Appearing on nationwide television for what he said would be the last time in military uniform, Sisi called for national unity and emphasized that tough economic times lie ahead. “I, with all humility, come forward announcing my intention to run for the presidency,” he said. “Your support will be giving me this great honor.” He must run as a civilian, but Egypt has a long-standing tradition of leaders drawn from the ranks of the military.